This invention relates generally to a method of inhibiting the growth of organisms on a marine structure. In particular, this invention relates to the use of certain halopropargyl compounds as marine antifouling agents.
Marine antifouling agents are used commercially to prevent growth of organisms on marine structures. Tributyltin oxide and other organotins have been the major marine antifouling agents in use for many years. There is currently much concern over the effects of tin on marine environments. For example, high levels of tin in harbor waters have been linked to shell deformation in some bivalve species, such as oysters.
Some organic compounds have been suggested as marine antifoulants. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,479 (Gruening) discloses the use of 3-iodopropargyl N-butyl carbamate as marine antifouling agents. These types of compounds have not achieved commercial prominence because they do not meet the same performance requirements as tin based antifouling agents.
A number of cyclic N-halopropargyl substituted compounds and N-halopropargyl substituted quaternary ammonium compounds are known in the art as microbicides. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,933 (Hsu), which discloses bromopropargyl quaternary ammonium compounds as microbicides. These compounds are not disclosed as marine antifouling agents.
The effectiveness of microbicidal materials useful in combatting fungi, bacteria and the like in non-aqueous media, and microbicides effective in combatting fungi, slime, and algae in fresh water systems, cannot be used to predict the effectiveness of these compounds as marine antifouling agents in sea water and brackish water capable of supporting marine life such as barnacles, slime, hydroids, grassy brown felt algae, and the like.
The problem addressed by this invention is to provide marine antifouling agents having increased performance and little or no harmful effects to marine environments.